Letter: Work together to improve water quality

The CBS2 report Water War was a surprise, especially because our situation in Cedar Rapids is a long way away from what's going on in Des Moines.

Here in Cedar Rapids, we have a history of working together to improve water quality. We've been doing that since before Des Moines Water Works Director Bill Stowe filed his lawsuit against farmers, dividing urban and rural residents.

Water quality is something we talk about a lot in town and on the farm. I raise hogs and sheep and grow crops and like the many responsible farmers I know, water quality and sustainability is top of mind. If we don't take care of the land and do right by our neighbors, downwind and downstream, we won't be farming long.

I was glad the CBS2 story let you know that regulation doesn't improve water quality because by Stowe's own admission, they are regulated, but they dump the nitrates they remove back in the river along with the brine they use to remove them, so it's someone else's problem downstream. Our approach in Cedar Rapids is better, because we're working together to bring conservation practices that are improving water quality.

Here in Linn County, people don't point fingers, they find solutions. This isn't a ‘war,' this is a battle where we're on the same side, because it will take generations of rural and urban stakeholders working together to solve it.

Jason Russell

6th generation Linn County grain and livestock farmer

Monticello